Foley's Journal Entry (for people who don't check out his site)

Copied and pasted from Mick's site, I found it funny the way he tells the story, so I copied and pasted it here...

July 8, 2003

I grew up listening to ABC's Wide World of Sports herald "the thrill of victory and the glory of defeat." I can still hear the music, and see that poor S.O.B. tumbling down the mountain as Jim MacKay said those classic words. Today, I got to live them.

In a much smaller, comparatively trivial sense, I had lived them yesterday when my dreams of Katie Couric were dashed by the harsh realities of Matt Lauer. Actually Matt was extremely cool in our interview. He seemed genuinely interested in our interview, which by all accounts—or at least all accounts I heard—went really well. We even talked a little bit off camera about our shared interest in Civil War battlefields. Matt also pointed out that Katie's late husband had been a Civil War buff.

I hope the Today interview will create some interest among non-wrestling fans, but more importantly, will not cause fans of the hardcore legend to jump en-masse off the Foley ship due to the not-so-hardcore threads I sported during the segment. I doubt it. I've always maintained that the wresting fans would support my foray into fiction, and even a sports coat and tie, just as long as I leave the teeth and ear alone.

On my way out of the studio, I did manage to get my photo taken with Katie, who wished me well with the book, and said that the Foley tribute at the Garden was one of the most touching things she'd seen in her 20 years as a wrestling fan. OK, so I made that part up. But she did wish me well, and I will try to get the Foley-Couric photo up on the site in a few days.

I was also fairly pleased with the piece in today's USA Today. I do wish that in referencing the "mixed reviews" they would have gone with a quote from a positive review, instead of the lukewarm one from Publishers Weekly. Based on that review, ten or so wrestling metaphors and plays on words, I feel that person never got over the fact that I used to wrestle for a living. Hopefully, most reviewers won't let their personal biases cloud their judgment. All in all, however, I thought was a good piece, and like the Today Show interview, hope it will shine a light on Tietam Brown.

And then…. depression set in. Just like yesterday! But unlike yesterday, this news will take a little longer to recover from.

I was in the Knopf offices this afternoon, and when I checked my messages, I learned there was an urgent one from the WWE. My publicist asked me what I thought they wanted.

"I don't know," I said, "Maybe they're in a jam for SummerSlam and want me to wrestle."

To tell the truth, my heart was beating a little fast at the prospect of such an offer. I was excited about a potential match, but also afraid that I'd be woefully unprepared for such a big event, as shaping up during a 25-city book tour would probably be damn near impossible.

"Hello Lynn, this is Cactus." Lynn Brent, one of the heads of talent relations, has known me since my days in World Class Championship Wrestling, and is one of the world's only people who still refer to me as "Cactus." "Yeah Lynn, I got the message asking me to call you as soon as possible." I waited anxiously for the big offer.

"Cactus, I don't know how to tell you this but your house burned down."

Fortunately no one was home, as the house she spoke of was in Florida, where we had moved from a while ago. But still, as the I think about the house and all the special memories it holds for us—Christmas mornings, SmackDown! nights, marathon writing sessions at the kitchen table, even grueling attempts at conceiving Mick Jr. —I do so with an aching in my heart. The years I spent there were some of the best ones of my life.

Matt Lauer, Katie Couric, USA Today…. the thrill of victory. Four years of memories up in smoke…. You get it, right?